This week’s promotional discount is on my 2003 book Daily Prayer, the most popular of my many publications, slightly ahead of No Ordinary Man and Prayers for All Seasons. Normally retailing at £14.99 (or £12.99 for the pocket edition), this week, until 20 September, you can purchase it at a 10 per cent discount – a saving of £1.50 – using the code DAILY10 when ordering the book from the Kevin Mayhew website. Just type the code into the relevant box at the checkout between the dates given.
Meanwhile, here’s the last session I’ll be posting this week from the book, to run alongside this promotion. This one considers what is involved in true commitment, and asks how committed to Christ we really are:
Truly committed?
Read
Come to him, a living stone rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and, like living stones, allow yourselves through Jesus Christ to be built into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. 1 Peter 2:4-5
Ponder
I like to think of myself as a supporter of Southend United Football Club. In my mid- to late-teens I watched them play most weeks, my home being just a couple of minutes’ walk from the ground and, although I moved away from the town twenty-five years ago, I still follow the team’s fortunes with interest. Indeed, I have even taken to looking up the club’s official website to catch the latest match report or news. Sadly, though, I haven’t watched the team play for over ten years, and that, I’m afraid, exposes my ‘support’ for what it is – an empty illusion. The truth of the matter is that I’m interested in Southend rather than a supporter, for support needs to show itself in action. Unless I am there on the terraces, cheering on the players, or contributing to the club’s finances through paying at the turnstiles, my so-called support means precious little.
The parallel between this and nominal discipleship is not hard to spot. Many of us claim to be Christians, but when was the last time we darkened the door of a church, turned the pages of a Bible, approached God in prayer or expressed our faith through practical service? Yes, we may tune in to the occasional TV Songs of Praise or ‘God slot’ on the radio, but if that’s as far as it goes, then something is wrong. I’m not saying that you have to go to church to be a Christian, or that there is a certain lifestyle that must be rigidly adhered to in order to be counted such – therein lies the road to bigotry, hypocrisy and legalism. What I am saying, as much to myself as anyone, is that being a Christian – that is, belonging to Christ rather than simply being interested in him – must necessarily make a difference to the way we live. If that isn’t the case, then it’s time we asked ourselves if we’re actually Christians at all.
Ask yourself
In what ways does Christian commitment make a difference in your life? How far does your faith show itself in action?
Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, I talk about belonging to you and offering you my service, but so often reality falls short of the ideal. Instead of making you an integral part of my life, I treat you as an optional extra, there to turn to as and when it suits me. Instead of working for your kingdom, I strive solely to serve my own interests. Instead of involving myself in the life of your people, I stay on the fringes, reluctant to commit myself wholly to your cause. My deeds deny my words; my life betrays my lack of faith. Forgive me and save me from confusing nominal Christianity with living discipleship. Teach me what it means to belong to you and to be part of your Church, and so may I serve you as you deserve, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Remember
If any are hearers rather than doers of the word, they are like those who view themselves in a mirror, only immediately to forget what they look like the moment they turn away. By contrast, those who look into the perfect law of freedom and persevere in it, living not as forgetful hearers but as committed doers, their deeds will be blessed. James 1:23-25
Close
Gracious God, teach me to be as committed to you as you are to me. Amen.